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August 7, 2011

Rick Perry: America's Next President?

I do not know who will be elected as America's next president, but I'm comfortable predicting that it will probably not be Obama. Setting aside my own disappointment with him, a sentiment shared by growing numbers of progressives, I do not see how he possibly overcomes this unemployment rate without the sort of drastic action which he has so far refused to take.

I expect that either Mitt Romney or Rick Perry will be our next president. And of those two choices, I sure as hell hope it is Romney. Whatever other flaws he may have, Romney seems far less likely to be a Christian extremist than Perry.

Standing on a stage surrounded by thousands of fellow Christians on Saturday morning, Gov. Rick Perry of Texas called on Jesus to bless and guide the nation’s military and political leaders and “those who cannot see the light in the midst of all the darkness.”

There was nothing interfaith about Perry's event; it was all about Jesus. He had no interest in being inclusive here. According to Fernandez, "The prayers were given in Jesus Christ’s name, and the many musical performers sang of Christian themes of repentance and salvation."

What we have here is a sitting governor, elected to represent all his constituents and not just the Christian ones, using his office to promote Christianity in one of the most blatant ways imaginable. And this man wants to be our next president.

We are supposed to overlook the fact that Perry has no plan for America apart from superstition. When he publicly prayed the following into a microphone at Reliant Stadium, he showed the nation that he is thoroughly unfit to lead:

You are our only hope, and we stand before you today in awe of your power and in gratitude for your blessings, and humility for our sins. Father, our heart breaks for America. We see discord at home. We see fear in the marketplace. We see anger in the halls of government, and as a nation we have forgotten who made us, who protects us, who blesses us, and for that we cry out for your forgiveness.

We deserve better. Here's hoping that the economy does in fact show some real progress prior to the election.